Mates
by Emmylia
Summary: A series of one-shots centered around the pairings of Remus/Severus and James/Sirius.


_**The HP universe and characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own just the plot. I figure since I'm terrible at updating my WIPs then I should at least offer up something else yes? So here you go.**_

_**This'll be a series of little one-shots with the main pairings being Remus/Severus and James/Sirius. As always, I hope you enjoy. **_

* * *

**Mates**

When James Potter realized his heart didn't belong to Lily Evans, it was during a most unexpected conversation in the middle of the summer holidays.

The revelation came to him the summer between his fourth and fifth year at Hogwarts. He'd been sitting in his backyard with his best friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Peter Pettigrew had been unable to join them as he was visiting relatives for the summer.

The three had sat together under a large oak and Remus had quietly set down the book he'd been reading to face his friends with a solemn look.

"You've accepted my lycanthropy, you've forgiven me my lies, and you're not even upset I was made Prefect." Remus began, in a tone of voice that James and Sirius had dubbed his 'teacher-lecturing' voice.

"Ohh did you finally do something naughty, Moony?" Sirius asked with a laugh. James and he had come to a conclusion back in their third year that no matter what Remus was, no matter what he did, he'd always be the saint of the group.

Remus sighed heavily, his faint smile flickering out of existence as he continued to look at them. "Not yet but that doesn't mean I won't try." Remus turned the book in his hands over and held it out. Sirius took it while James snorted and rolled his eyes.

"As long as you haven't killed anyone, I don't care." James informed his too-serious friend. Remus briefly smiled before shaking his head.

"Even if I told you I have a mate?" Remus asked quietly. "That book was written by two werewolves. It details all sorts of things I never understood."

"Where'd you get it?" Sirius wondered, flicking through the book until he noticed a marked page and flipped it open to the seventh chapter.

"Mum and Dad gave it to me when I got home this summer."

"What's you having a mate got to do with anything?" James prompted, always being one for just getting on with it, whatever it was.

Remus looked away, clearly still worried he was going to alienate his friends.

"This says your mate is the person most magically compatible with you." Sirius muttered, using his gift of speed-reading for good this time. "You'll be drawn to them but can choose someone else, though you won't be as happy with anyone else. You'll feel a longing for your mate until you consummate the bond between you."

"So who is she?" James demanded, grinning wolfishly at his level-headed werewolf friend.

"It's a wizard." Remus blurted out before blushing bright red.

James and Sirius shared a look before shrugging. "So who's the lucky bloke that we'll have to warn against breaking your furry little heart?" James half teased. Remus looked surprised and Sirius seemed to understand then.

"You were worried that would bother us?" He asked and scoffed when Remus nodded in confirmation. "Is it another of those Muggle things?" Both purebloods understood Remus was raised with a lot of Muggle prejudices ingrained in him, thanks to his parents being Muggleborn.

"Look here Mr. Moony," James said, sounding a lot like his father, "in the wizarding world, so long as there's love, no one gives a rat's arse about who ends up with who."

Remus visibly relaxed, laughing at James's ineloquent explanation. He tensed up a moment later however and squared his shoulders. "He's not someone you'll like." Remus told them. "But he is my mate."

"You'll only be happiest with this bloke then. Your magic will be compatible too, which means a lot in the wizarding world." Sirius nodded to himself as James continued to grin. "Well go on, tell us!"

"I won't pursue him if you two disagree." Remus promised making his friends grimace at him. As if they'd have a problem with anyone- "It's Severus."

There was a pause and even the noises of summer seemed to stop. They returned in a soft rush a minute later and James groaned while Sirius threw a hand dramatically over his eyes.

"We're going to have to be nice to Snape?" James whimpered piteously.

"No more Snivellus? Who will test our pranks then?" Sirius whined, flopping over onto the grassy ground.

"What about Lestrange?"

"Hmm, that might work. He tried to arrange a marriage contract for me this summer, did I tell you?"

"What!?" For some reason this news made James more indignant than Remus's revelation of his magically-chosen mate. Sirius grimaced and nodded. Remus chuckled for some reason then. His chuckles turned to laughter. Soon the three of them were rolling around in fits of hilarity.

When they calmed again, Remus was once more looking serious.

"We _will_ be having that 'don't-break-our-friend's-heart' chat with him." James told the young werewolf sternly.

"And until there's a ring on your finger, no funny business." Sirius added just as sternly. Remus looked from one to the other before smiling that tender smile that was pure Remus.

It was as they picked up their things and headed inside for dinner that Remus imparted a secret behind Sirius's back.

"I can also sense who others' mates are." Remus whispered to James as Sirius loudly wondered what the house-elf had whipped up for lunch. "Have you never wondered why I kept telling you to stop bothering with Evans?"

And with that he left James to his suddenly crashing thoughts. Remus knew who would make James happier than any other person in the world and hadn't told him before?

"Moony! You can't say that and then run away! Get back here you flea-bag!"

The werewolf was such a Marauder some days, James thought fondly, even as he caught Remus in a headlock and gave him a rap of the knuckles over his scalp.

...

Needless to say Snape wasn't too pleased to see James and Sirius barge into his compartment several weeks later, which he was sharing with Evans and some Ravenclaws.

"Listen up Snape, we got a lot to say to you." James demanded, sitting across from Snape while Sirius blocked the door. Snape snarled at them.

"Lay off, Potter." Evans began to defend her friend. James turned to her before waving at her dismissively.

"Not talking to you, Evans." James said, a bit rudely, making everyone stare at him incredulously. Everyone in the school knew about James's crush on Evans. But ever since Remus had told him Evans wasn't his mate, James wanted nothing to do with her. The girl had been distracting him from finding his mate, the witch or wizard who would make James's life complete! It was unspeakably selfish of Evans, really. "Now then Snape, we got some information and since dear Moony's involved, we'll share it with you."

"Prongs." Sirius said suddenly and James turned to him. James listened when Sirius used that tone, the one that warned James not to go overboard. Usually that tone was reserved for when James was trying to fast-talk them out of detention.

"Oh alright, we'll save the juicy gossip for later then." James sighed, put out that he couldn't just blurt it out. After the few weeks he'd had to get used to the idea that their pack's alpha, the kind, patient, downright saintly Remus was mate to the snarky, potions-obsessed Snape, he couldn't wait to see them together. It was the oddest couple he could ever imagine, and he wanted to see how it worked out. Remus wasn't put out by it either, but then again he'd known since the middle of third year so he probably had gotten all his objections out of his system by the time he told his friends.

James was worried though, in a mature part of his mind he refused to admit he had most of the time. He was afraid his and Sirius's constant teasing and downright bullying of Snape would result in Snape denying their best friend, thus breaking poor Moony's heart. James couldn't let that happen to the werewolf, who already suffered enough as it was just because some monster had decided to inflict his disease on a small child who couldn't consent to or deny it.

"What Prongs is trying to get to is that we want to call an immediate and permanent cessation of all hostilities between us and you." Sirius rolled his eyes when everyone looked at him as if he'd sprouted another nose. People tended to not notice how brilliant Sirius really was, which made James really annoyed because how could he and Sirius pull off half their ingenious work if they were duller than dishwater?

"Why?" Snape glared at them, disbelief etched onto every line of his face.

"Because certain facts have come to light recently that have changed our perception of you." James said taking back the reins of the conversation. "We know you won't believe till you see it, but we figured we ought to make it all official and such." James stood up and Sirius shifted away from the door to let James join him.

"Anything for a Marauder, eh Padfoot?" James asked, looking at Snape who was watching them like a hawk.

"Exactly. Moony so owes us." Sirius sighed. "Well bye Sni-Snape!" Sirius caught himself and waved cheerfully, James doing so as well.

They didn't speak again until they were in their compartment, where Peter had fallen asleep and had remained so.

"What happened?" Sirius asked as he took a seat next to James. "I haven't seen you dismiss Evans like that in ever!"

James shrugged. "I decided to quit wasting my time, is all."

Sirius let out that bark-like laugh of his and James laughed as well, before he joined Sirius in spelling Peter's robes and hair into outrageous colors.

Remus joined them a while later and he was helping Peter right his hair and close as they disembarked at Hogsmeade Station, ending up close to Snape and Evans in the queue for carriages.

"...really weird. I don't know what to make of it." Evans was saying.

"It's a trick." Snape replied immediately. "They're bluffing. As if Black and Potter really meant any of that."

Remus cocked an eyebrow at his friends, to which Peter shrugged and James and Sirius laughed brightly, gaining the attention of Snape and Evans.

"Nothing to worry about Moony, we just did what we promised." James said making Remus groan.

"Anything for our dear, sweet, fluffy Moony." Sirius teased making Remus smack him as Sirius pinched his cheeks.

"Just get in a carriage before I hex you two." Remus commanded and James and Sirius gave him snappy salutes, hopping to fulfill their alpha's order.

True to their word, neither James nor Sirius said a cruel word or played a prank on Severus Snape from that moment on. The school was mystified by this sudden turn in events, though Dumbledore looked at them proudly whenever they caught his eye at meal times.

Peter wasn't speaking to them much. Remus had revealed his secret to their fourth friend and he hadn't taken it well. He'd been completely against the thought, which had surprised both James and Sirius since they knew both of Peter's parents were halfbloods and he hadn't grown up with a lot of those stupid Muggle prejudices.

James and Sirius didn't pay Peter much attention, and in retaliation for him being a prick, they kept him out of their final preparations to attempt their first Animagus transformations.

When not immersed in homework, in Animagus studying, or in pranking Rabastan Lestrange, James and Sirius were under James's Invisibility cloak collecting data on Snape.

Remus had laughed at them when he'd found out what they were getting up to when they left under the cloak. He'd become more carefree, his friends noticed happily, after his revelation. Seeing how accepting they both were also made Remus relax so much. He smiled easier and was quicker to tease. He was less cautious that the wrong word would set them off.

It made James and Sirius discuss how immature they'd been and how lucky they were Remus put up with them.

They learned a lot about Snape. He wasn't such a git as they'd thought. Sure he drawled too much and he overused sarcasm and no one should be that fascinated by Potions but he had moments when he was human. Like when he smiled as he read something interesting, when he chuckled at a good joke, when he relaxed enough that he would lounge in a windowseat and just stare out over the grounds, lost in whatever thoughts occupied his mind.

He could be good for Remus, James figured towards the end of October, as they settled into a table in the library. A table that just so happened to be within hearing range of Snape and Regulus Black's table, being half-hidden by the end of a row of bookshelves. It was a little weird seeing Snape without Lily Evans at his side, but James had noticed that happening a lot more this year.

Speaking of Evans, that had been yet another change.

Evans would sit closer to James in classes and the common room. She'd begin conversations with him. She even laughed and smiled at his jokes. James put up with it, because if Evans could be converted then surely Remus would be able to end up happily ever after with Snape that much quicker.

"Okay, we need to plot." Sirius said in a stage-whisper that the two sitting nearby could no doubt hear. "Operation Get Moony Some Loving!"

James snorted and Remus whacked Sirius upside the head with a heavy Runes book, a faint blush on his cheeks. He didn't realize Snape was so close. James had made sure to distract Remus from noticing on their way in. He and Sirius had a plan and Remus' honest reactions were a key part of it.

"That is the lamest title ever." Remus informed Sirius who whimpered in mock-pain.

"Really, it should be Operation Get Moony a Date." James replied. "Since he's too shy to just go up and snog the bloke."

A choked sound was heard from the table nearby.

"Shut up James." Remus huffed, opening the book and attempting to read. "It isn't that I'm shy. It's that I'm smart enough to know he won't believe me if I did any such thing."

"So what then?" Sirius demanded to know. "He's your mate. Magically-chosen specifically for you. The one person on this earth that'll make you happier than any other and who'll be happiest with you."

"Yes, I am aware of that." Remus smiled, fondly exasperated with the situation. "Otherwise I wouldn't have had the courage to tell you two his identity."

"So he's a Slytherin." James replied loudly-as loudly as he could without Pince murdering him, that is-and heard another snort which was probably from Snape this time. "You should have known once you said he was your mate, that we'd get over it. Anything for a Marauder."

Remus looked between the two with affection in his dark amber gaze. "I know that." Remus said, referring to more than their acceptance of his chosen mate. He knew they were risking a lot by attempting the Animagi transformations to keep him company.

"Well then you ought to just go up and snog him senseless." Sirius urged, eyes sparkling madly. "And we'll work the rest of our days to convince him its not some elaborate prank or something. I mean, even if it is-"

Remus put a hand on Sirius's mouth as a group of girls wandered past them, all looking at the three boys with blushes and giggles. Once they passed, Remus removed his hand and Sirius winked at James.

"I mean, even if it is Snape." Sirius snorted then. James just barely controlled his urge to laugh when he saw Snape's head whip up to glare at them from the corner of his eye. He kept himself under control though. It was all part of the plan to help Remus get his mate.

"How long have you known again?" James asked and Remus flushed.

"Since third year." Remus muttered but by now their prey was listening avidly so he heard it.

"You should have told us sooner." Sirius said then, ruffling Remus's hair and laughing. "We could have wrapped him up and given him to you last Christmas." Remus shook his head, hiding his face in his hands.

"We could do that this year." James mused, seeing Snape gape from the corner of his eye. "Just slip some sleeping draught into his pumpkin juice."

"He doesn't like pumpkin juice, he drinks tea." Remus snapped then spluttered when James and Sirius leered at him. Yup, Remus being honestly cute like this was sure to work!

"Oh? Is that so?" James teased. "Moony has it so bad, doesn't he?" James cooed making Remus hit him now.

"Shut up! Just stop! Someone'll overhear and tell him and he'll think it's just a prank and-" Remus stopped himself as James and Sirius looked at him with real concern.

"Aw, Moony, is that why you haven't done anything yet?" James asked quietly. Remus nodded furiously, looking away at the floor. "We really screwed things up, didn't we Moony?"

Remus shook his head now. "I should have told you sooner, before things got so bad. Maybe then there would have been a chance..." Remus sighed and trailed off, packing away his things. "I'll be in the mirror." He told them and they nodded, watching him leave before looking at each other.

"We really screwed things up." Sirius sighed, dropping his forehead onto the tabletop. "Poor Moony."

"We'll figure out a way for it to work." James promised, patting Sirius's head and causing Sirius to smile at him. "We're Marauders! We can do anything. Our alpha's happiness lies in the balance. We can't fail!"

Sirius nodded and stood up. "Let's get to work then! Operation Get Moony His Mate is in effect!"

James grinned and followed him as they hurried to work on a way to make this happen. As they turned into an aisle of books, James chanced looking behind him.

Snape and Evans were sitting gobsmacked, eyeing the table the Marauders had just vacated. _Merlin don't let us fail Moony,_ James begged as he hurried after Sirius.

...

Since they knew Snape never went home for the Christmas holidays, the Marauders, minus Peter, decided to stay for the holidays as well. When James explained to his parents via letter why, they gave him praise and luck.

Very few students stayed that Christmas, which led to Dumbledore banishing the tables in favor of a single table for the remaining staff and the ten students who had stayed that year.

"Huh, he does hate pumpkin juice." Sirius murmured as they watched Snape during the first dinner of the holidays. Remus's lips twitched into an affectionate smile as he looked over at Snape. At that moment Snape looked up and his eyes caught Remus's, while Sirius and James traded amused grins.

Remus flushed a bright red and looked away first, Sirius teasing him in a low enough voice to avoid the professors' attention.

It continued on like that for the week leading up to Christmas Eve. Remus and Snape would glance at each other often, one or both looking away with pink cheeks.

The looks lingered though, lasted longer and longer. Sirius and James watched on like proud parents. The professors eventually noticed it too. McGonagall even called James and Sirius up to her office to discuss it.

"Really now, isn't that sort of prank beneath you?" McGonagall demanded.

"It's not a prank of any sort ma'am." Sirius promised her earnestly.

"They're mates!" James blurted out. McGonagall looked shocked for a minute then a small smile twitched her stern lips upwards. After she discovered the boys were working on a plan to get them together, she gave them some ginger newts and sent them on their way.

James wrangled Sirius into leaving Remus alone for an hour or two daily during this time. Course they hid under the cloak and watched over him but no one other than Remus knew that.

Snape began to appear when Remus was alone. He'd watch the brunette wizard from afar, unaware that Sirius and James were gauging his every look and action. Snape appeared a little conflicted, a little skeptical, and a lot curious whenever he would watch Remus. Even if all Remus was doing was sitting in the library with a book, or working on his drawings in a little corner of the castle, oblivious to everything else.

Something finally happened as they were walking back upstairs to Gryffindor after a snowball fight on Christmas Eve. Remus was laughing and soggy and looked rather adorable in James' opinion. He was walking backwards, bickering cheerfully with Sirius who was still arguing Remus had cheated to win the fight when Remus tripped on an uneven stone and began to fall backward.

From around a corner Snape appeared and caught him. Time froze and James watched as Remus and Snape looked at one another, eyes locked.

Sirius's lips began to form a Cheshire Cat grin and with a nudge at James, he flicked his wand, conjuring a spring of mistletoe over Remus and Snape's heads.

His movement broke the moment. Snape helped Remus back onto his feet while Remus flushed and stammered an apology that Snape waved away. The two young wizards looked away from each other for a few moments before Snape squared his shoulders and turned to look at Remus.

Remus looked up at him. Snape looked like he wanted to say something, but at the last second his determination fell and he began to walk away. James cleared his throat obnoxiously loud then, and when both mates were looking at him he pointed up at the mistletoe. Both wizards turned a bright red, Snape even began to scowl and open his mouth to say something acerbic no doubt, but Remus was a little quicker.

He grabbed Snape's arm, waited until the Slytherin turned to him, then leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Remus flashed Snape a smile before he hurried away. James and Sirius caught up to him, grinning as Remus smiled like a loon.

James looked over his shoulder and spotted Snape, who looked quite shell-shocked. James offered him an encouraging grin before commencing the teasing Remus was in for.

For the rest of the winter holidays, Remus and Snape began to meet up. They'd wander the corridors, sometimes not saying a word, sometimes talking about potions or homework. When James and Sirius had enough of this tip-toeing dance, they had Snape 'accidentally' find Remus' sketchbook, which opened up a new topic for them. It was a good idea, since they saw Snape became quite wrapped up in Remus whenever the brunette werewolf went into long spiels about his favorite hobby.

When the new term began, Snape started to sit closer to Remus in classes. Remus, in turn, sought Snape out during their free times. They would share a table in the library and James and Sirius would leave them alone, watching from afar as slowly they began to grow closer.

Winter melted into spring and soon enough Snape could stand having James and Sirius join him at the table he and Remus were using. They stayed away from anything that had to do with the past, each glad to bury it...for the most part.

"Idiot." Snape said with an eyeroll as he looked over James's potion essay. "It's Madagascar not Indonesia where the Morgana blossom grows."

"Is that right?" James said with his own eyeroll. "Forgive me oh great Potions Prince! We're can't all be prodigies now can we?"

Snape had paled then flushed as James spoke. James shot him a questioning look but Snape looked away from him. A few seconds passed before Snape muttered something to Remus, who looked surprised then laughed gently.

"He meant it kindly." Remus murmured loud enough for James to hear. "You are a prodigy you know."

James caught Sirius's eye then and they shared a quick grin before Sirius demanded Snape tell him the answer to one of the questions, which resulted in a small bickering match that seemed to make Snape happy for whatever reason.

"He likes the fact you don't back down." Remus said later that evening in their common room. "It's his favorite sport, he said. Seeing how well people can argue."

"Nutter." Sirius replied from where he was sprawled on the couch, his legs on James's lap. James gave them a half-hearted push but didn't try that hard to get them off. Sirius grinned and Remus gave him a discreet wink.

"My nutter though." Remus replied and James laughed at the slightly possessive growl in his words.

"Yeah yeah, us and the whole school knows it by now." Sirius told him, making Remus smile happily.

Evans, who James had started to see as a good friend, apparently had a change of heart of her own over the past months. She brought up the upcoming Hogsmeade trip in May. One last huzzah before the fifth and seventh years sat their important exams.

"Who will you be going with?" Evans asked as James finished his Charms work. Sirius was off in detention and Remus had gone to find Snape for a goodnight snog. Not that Moony ever called it that. But James and Sirius knew that's what was going on. James had just returned from his own detention and was eagerly waiting for Sirius to reappear. Lestrange had been giving his friend too many creepy looks for James to feel comfortable leaving Sirius alone for long.

It was more than that though. James could admit as he looked over at the portrait hole. He had started to notice he was quite morose whenever Sirius was away from him for long. Sure he missed his friends when he was alone, but he didn't have this pining ache whenever Remus went away. He didn't feel a constant need to put a grin on Remus' face as he did whenever Sirius was nearby.

"I don't know. Probably just Sirius." James said with a smile. Evans gave him a funny look before she morphed it into a smile of her own.

"I'm sure Sirius will rope himself a date by then." Evans laughed dismissively. James gave a chuckle himself, though her words caused him a stab of melancholy. "Well, I was just thinking that, well, it'd be nice if we went together, don't you think?"

James stopped writing and turned to look at her. He took in her auburn hair, her green eyes, her full lips...and felt nothing. He shook his head.

"Thanks but no, Evans." He said as he looked at her.

"But why not?" Evans demanded when he said nothing more. "I know you like me. You've been after me since first year!"

James heard the portrait hole open but was too busy gaping at Evans in shock. "I do not!"

"I know you like me James! You told everyone and their mothers!" Evans pressed causing James to splutter indignantly.

"I think you're a good friend Evans, but I don't like you. Sure I had a crush on you for an unhealthy amount of time but I finally got over it." James informed the now red-faced witch. Half the common room was full of studying fifth and seventh years. They looked up as the two began to raise their voices.

"Then why did you stop pranking Severus and start being friendly with him?" Evans demanded to know. James gave another snort, rolling his eyes.

"For Remus." James stated. "In case you didn't notice, but they're rather into each other."

Evans looked like someone had slapped her. "But...but..."

James groaned, hoping Remus and Snape would forgive him. This had to be said though. "Look Evans, Remus found out Snape is his mate."

"What does that even mean?" Evans snapped.

"It means Snape is Remus's magically-chosen, one-hundred percent compatible life partner." James explained slowly. "Most people don't care too much about it to look for theirs, but everyone has a mate. Remus discovered Snape was his and me and Sirius promised to help them get together. So we grew up and stopped causing Snape grief, hoping he'd give Remus a chance. Looks like it worked too."

Evans was looking angry for some reason.

"So you've just been using me to get Severus to like Remus?" Evans demanded to know.

"Of course not." James nearly shouted in outrage. "You started talking to me, in case you forgot!"

Evans stomped away and James shook his head.

"Well, that was enlightening." James spun around to smile at Remus and Sirius. Sirius had spoken and Remus was smiling rather proudly at him.

"Was it now?" James asked and Sirius nodded before dropping down next to James and doing something most unexpected. He pulled James to him and pecked a kiss to his lips. James's jaw dropped while Sirius shot Remus a grateful grin and then he made his way up to the dorms.

"Is he...?" James asked and Remus nodded. "Merlin." James smiled though, laughing as he got up and ran up the stairs. In their dorm Sirius was waiting. James said nothing but pulled him into a fierce kiss.

He had found his mate. All was good in the world.

* * *

**_ A short fluffy piece. The concept of mates is always an interesting one so I decided to give it a go. _**


End file.
